How to do the final Appleseed of my 21st Century... as Shoot Boss....

  So easy, sign up and go. 

  Just up 405 to Mukilteo and catch the ferry in the darkness and then drive to the range and await Tracey to open the gate.  Had twenty, three canceled and two were No Shows, so we had fifteen shooters, only one left hander, many ARs and center fired noise.  Looked like eight had been on an Appleseed with me before.

  And it went well, right on schedule, good pace, and the weather was better than it could have been. Lots better. My only rain problem was during the final Red Coat target and clean up time, since I couldn't find an underwater writing pen to record the results. And my clip board with notes was packed away with the range host family and they were going to Canada to hunt moose and wolves. The Canadians are promoting hunter safari adventures. If they just bring back the wooly Mammoth and Rhino...

  About 240 rounds on first day, and three hundred rounds on second day. So many opportunities to put a Rifleman score (210) together, one repeat 217, and one new Rifleman 211 on the first AQT of the second day.  The shooters often try to fix more than one problem at a time, which seems like it should work, but doesn't. Too many things to think about and most of the shooting becomes irregular from target to target, from AQT to AQT.  Need lots of dry practice to get repeatable results.

  Tried something new for the peppermint drill.  A sighting Square target was posted with one peppermint one the center square, then the target was engaged, upper left two rounds, upper right two rounds, then lower left two rounds and then lower right two rounds, then the final two rounds on the peppermint square. If you burst your peppermint with the first round you could wait until everyone was finished and then shoot a remaining peppermint on another target. That was a fun one, and everyone could see the importance of Natural Point of Aim, and repeatable shots.  The first day Red Coat target had seven of fifteen shooters getting the head shot, and the second day we started my doing the 'cold bore' one shot on the shingle to see how many were still on target after a night's sleep.

   I gave out most of the remaining tee-shirts, about three per shooter, I got William to come out from his chair and help pass out targets and take a Blue Cap as a volunteer admin for the RWVA... his father was one of the Instructors in Training (IIT) and passed his progress check for IIT2.  All the paperwork has been submitted, and the electronic reports posted and working as seamlessly as we were once told they would.

   Several of the shooters had built their ARs from parts? One was having extraction problems and a feed problem, and his firing pin was piercing the rounds. The feed problem was a lateral split case leaving about an inch in the chamber, which accepted a second round to the point of jamming it all up and open bolt - the Leatherman came out and was used. One extraction didn't work, with the rim broken off by the first attempt. Wolf ammunition from Taiwan, who knew? But then I still don't know.

   After driving off the ferry and going home to unpack on day two, I find an email telling me I had posted my After Action Report in the AAR area of the general forum, and that my Course of Instruction hadn't been limited to viewing only by instructors. Which I knew when I did both, and I had been advised by one of my instructors at the Appleseed.  I also had an email from the accounting department telling me for the second time that I hadn't submitted my form for the Custer, Washington shoot in June? So I made my third form out for that shoot, and my first form from the Reimbursement for this Appleseed. I never ask for money back for fuel, food or lodging (I sleep in my Caravan often - should I bill myself?) but I always report zero dollars expended to be recovered, for the IRS folks as they watch over 501 C3 groups.

   I have three of the shooters responding to the AAR and posting their comments, my and one instructor posting, and I did the Internal AAR without all the Red Coat numbers, but the one instructor took the split round picture and posted it on that IAAR, which is what the forum is designed to do, to share the experiences.  So this is my blog, this is Thursday morning early, and only a little repacking of Appleseed materials and equipment cleaning remains and that will be the last time. I am back to visiting the YMCA and talking with old men about the good old days. When I could do it all.  I forgot to give the 'load' command and was about to call the line 'All ready on the firing line...' that just wouldn't work.  Time for youngsters to step up.